Disclaimer: This post was originally written two weeks ago but is getting published only now… sooo some of them might not make sense and most of them may not be presently applicable.

A couple of observations that are specific to the country everyone is oh-so-interested to move to (or visit at some point at least). Some of them I totally concur with and some others I don’t! But remember, no pun intended.
- The days being longer than the nights, life here runs with a rhythm of its own. It would be Monday today and before you know it’s the weekend. I have never felt the days/weeks pass at this pace before!
- Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, iced tea, flavoured water, and other unmentionable soft drinks all now become “sodas”.
- Lunch being a battle every single day, now I can clearly comprehend the exact meaning of that lil prayer I used to say every morning in school for 14 years straight… “Give us today our daily bread”. Phew! Vegetarians sure do have a tough time :-/
- Wake up calls, voice messages, and Din Dins. Dinners were soo much fun ‘cos this is the only meal of the day that I get to cook for myself; especially my favourite food, south Indian! :) Sometimes, all six of us used to get into the kitchen and make elaborate dinners, which would all turn out to be absolutely yummo!
- I met a few very interesting people here and have come to make a memorable friendship as well, so much so that my angst to get back home sooner, lessened in time. I also came to realize that when you’re that far away from home, you tend to count a LOT on your friends. Damn good reason to stay together I must admit!
- New York. Undoubtedly, ever-enticing! :)
- I had a chance to meet a very interesting Blogger friend as well. It was very pleasant to meet you Oracle. :)
- The locals almost always smile and say a hello to everyone they see. The customary “Hi, how are you?” the “I’m good, how are u?”, and finally the “I’m great, thanks” has a way of getting onto my nerves! No seriously, when you really don’t expect the person to tell you the truth about how he/she really is, or when you don’t care a tinker’s damn yourself, why ask? Honestly, I think that’s very artificial. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s only in my humble opinion. But just so you know, inadvertently, I’m practicing that too during my stint here. :|
- Flavoured yogurt! Especially the ones with peach… yummooo! Perhaps the single most awaited food every afternoon.
- Seaside heights, NJ. The sparkling blue-green water, the sun high and sharp, tiny boats tossing lightly farther away in the ocean, the golden speckless sand, women dressed to liberally serve the needs of the men. One amazing trip that will live in my memory longer than me.
More to come. :)
Addendum:
1. I got back on the last Sunday of August to attend my sister’s wedding.
2. The wedding went on very well and I’ve gotten back to the grind again! Thanks for all your prayers. Will try and post something on it soon, while I rub my feet to wear off the tiredness of the 3-day wedding business.
3. Dharma, thank you so much for tagging me. I feel honoured. I'm on it already, but I can't promise you on when it will finally get published. :)
